Scelzi leads fierce funny car battle in Pomona

Pomona Raceway in sunny southern California is the setting for the first
and last races of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. The 23rd and final
race of the 2005 season will be anything but anti-climactic with the closest
points battle in Funny...

Pomona Raceway in sunny southern California is the setting for the first
and last races of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. The 23rd and final
race of the 2005 season will be anything but anti-climactic with the closest
points battle in Funny Car history being fought out on the quarter-mile
this weekend.

Although the trophies for Funny Car and Pro Stock Motorcycle won’t be
handed out until Sunday, Gary Scelzi and Andrew Hines have the
championships in their sights while Scelzi, Tony Schumacher, Matt Smith and
Jason Line grabbed number one qualifier spots for Sunday’s Auto Club of
SoCal NHRA Finals.

The three drivers vying for the 2005 Funny Car title are Scelzi, Ron
Capps and John Force. Defending POWERade champion Force has 13 titles
to his name, but he's fighting an uphill battle this weekend. Trailing
Scelzi by 28 points and Capps by 26, Force needs to advance two rounds
further than the two Don Schumacher Racing teammates in Sunday's final
eliminations in order to make up the difference.

Force and his team went to extreme measures this weekend to eliminate
weight from the car, attempting to score a national record that would
award him 20 bonus points. However, Force was unable to achieve the record and
settled for the sixth spot on the elimination ladder.

The third DSR Funny Car driver, Whit Bazemore, won't be an innocent
bystander on Sunday. His eleventh spot on the ladder matches him
with Force in the first round of eliminations, giving Bazemore the
opportunity to take Force out of the championship equation early.

Scelzi took the top spot on the ladder with a low ET 4.696 seconds
reaching 330.23 MPH. Admitting the pressure of the championship race
has affected his attitude, Scelzi shared some advice he received this
weekend from drag racing legend Frank Hawley. "(Hawley) told me: Relax.
You forgot why you're doing this. It's fun. You're in the car, you're
in control." Scelzi continued, "I've been edgy, nervous, not the goofy
Scelzi. I'd just forgotten what this is all about."

Obviously more relaxed and somewhat goofy, Scelzi described his attitude
going into Sunday's race, "My state of mind is good. But we're not going
to take the first round tomorrow lightly. It's do or die now." Scelzi
said he's not worried about what his teammates Capps and Bazemore are
going to do tomorrow. "If we win this race we'll be the champions. We
can't worry about (them). I'm worried about what were going to do. I'm
not going to get caught up in the bologna."

Cruz Pedregon reached a top speed of 328.86 MPH and sits second followed
by brother Tony, Eric Medlen and Robert Hight. Capps qualified tenth.

With the Top Fuel championship trophy already sitting on his mantle,
Tony Schumacher's team continued domination scoring a season record 11th
number one qualifier award with a low ET 4.466 seconds and top speed
328.78 MPH. Proud of his crew, Schumacher acknowledged, "All year long
people have been (asking) is this one of the best teams ever. These guys
are the best. I'm proud to drive for them. This is just a fantastic
team. Tomorrow will be fun."

Melanie Troxel powered her dragster down the quarter-mile in the second
quickest time. California native David Baca took the field by surprise
running a 4.485, quick enough for third followed by Brandon Bernstein
and Rod Fuller. David Grubnic sped to 330.96 MPH, the top speed of
qualifying, but sits 12th on the ladder.

Scott Kalitta, who sits 11th on Sunday's Top Fuel ladder, announced
he'll be driving a Funny Car for Kalitta Motorsports next year. The
Michigan-based team will still field three Top Fuel cars in 2006 driven
by Doug Kalitta, Grubnic and nitro-rookie Hillary Wills.

Matt Smith drove his bike down the quarter-mile in 7.000 seconds to
achieve his first career pole and a new track record. An elated Smith
shared "I can't say enough, I'm just privileged to be able to ride this
bike. I'm tickled to death."

Andrew Hines has a 47 point advantage over teammate GT Tonglet in the
Pro Stock Motorcycle championship race and sped his V-Rod up to 191.57
MPH, but his ET was only quick enough for second on the ladder. Chip
Ellis, Ryan Schnitz and Antron Brown round out the top five motorcycles.

Jason Line grabbed the Pro Stock Car pole with a track record ET 6.677
seconds reaching 206.83 MPH. Admitting his team still has some work to
do before eliminations, Line said "We had one good run that happened to
be quicker than everyone else. We definitely don't have a handle on it
yet. We just want to win this race tomorrow."

Kurt Johnson sped to a top qualifying speed of 207.62 MPH, but his ET
puts him third on the ladder. Continuing a strong streak, Erica Enders
drove her Chevy Cobalt to the second qualifying spot, a career best,
improving upon her number three spot two weeks ago in Las Vegas. Greg
Anderson, who locked in the 2005 Championship in Las Vegas, sits fourth
followed by Jeg Coughlin.

Eliminations for the 41st annual Auto Club of SoCal NHRA Finals begin
Sunday at 11:00 am.